Katrina... 2 Years Later

Lord, two years to the day after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, I lift up the still-broken city of New Orleans to you. A broken city full of shattered but resilient people. People who are in love with that unique place. People with a colorful and exciting history and culture. People who, in vast majority, do not know you or how much you love them - how much you love their city. God, houses are still in shambles. People still live in FEMA trailers. There is a shortage of teachers, firefighters, EMTs, moral police officers, electricians, builders... The people necessary to rebuild this community. The prices for drywall and copper are exorbitant. The laborers can name their price, and the homeowners must pay it - who else will build their house? God, my heart breaks for those people, those beautiful people.

You are not absent from there. You move among the people, you love them, and your heart breaks for them. Your rage burns against the politicians who practice corruption and evil, who abuse the trust placed in them by their constituents. You condemn the sin of those who have forgotten this city full of people made in your image. And you desire that New Orleans be a place where your love is shown and practiced, a place where you are manifest. Father, strengthen the Christians there to stand beside the poor, the orphan and the widow. Let your provision and justice be evident. Move us, your Church, your physical manifestation on earth, to love and serve this city, to wash her feet as you would. And may the people of New Orleans know that you are God, and that you love them. May they rise from the ashes to worship you.

Amen.